A longlist has been announced for the Polari First Book Prize, which celebrates "a writer whose first book explores the LGBT experience, whether in poetry, prose, fiction or nonfiction." The shortlist of up to six titles will be unveiled July 24, and the winner named October 20 at the London Literature Festival. This year's longlisted titles are:
Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard by Alex Bertie
Through Your Blood by Toby Campion
Mussolini’s Island by Sarah Day
A Marvellous Party by Ian Elmslie
Good as You: From Prejudice to Pride--30 years of Gay Britain by Paul Flynn
Pansy Boy by Paul Harfleet
Carnivore by Jonathan Lyon
Elmet by Fiona Mozley
Little Gold by Allie Rogers
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
Bravado by Scottee
Is Monogamy Dead? by Rosie Wilby
---
Three winners were announced for the inaugural Whiting Literary Magazine Prize, presented by the Whiting Foundation in print and digital categories to smaller and mid-sized journals with budgets of up to $500,000. Each prize includes an outright gift in the first year, followed by "substantial matching grants in the next two years and capacity building opportunities."
The judges looked for applicants that embodied "the best of what magazines do: publish extraordinary writing with verve and flair, support talented writers on the page and in the world, connect with readers, and advance the literary community." The winners are:
A Public Space, which receives $20,000 this year and again in 2019 and 2020, "stands as a paradigm of what literary magazines can be: a gorgeously curated collection we experience as a cabinet of wonders," the judges said.
Receiving $10,000 a year over the same time period are Fence ("This pioneer remains central to the canon.") and Words Without Borders ("a monument to international collaboration and a shared belief in artistic possibility").